--- title: "Elizabeth Kay Dillon | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/elizabeth-kay-dillon" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Elizabeth Kay Dillon U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia - State: Virginia - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, W.D. Virginia, 2014-present - 2003–2014: Shareholder, Guynn, Memmer & Dillon, PC - 1999–2000: Shareholder, Guynn & Dillon, PC - 1986–1998: Attorney, Woods, Rogers & Hazlegrove, PLC ### Education - Wake Forest University School of Law — J.D. (1986) - magna cum laude, Lenoir–Rhyne University — B.A. (1983) ### Additional information - Dillon handled over 2,200 district court cases (2008–2026), with a median case resolution time of ~218 days. - Elizabeth Kay Dillon (née Hillman; born December 14, 1960, Omaha, Nebraska) is the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, a position she assumed on July 4, 2024 after Michael F. Urbanski took senior status. - Appointment: Nominated by President Barack Obama on September 18, 2014, to replace retiring Judge Samuel Grayson Wilson. - Confirmation: Senate Judiciary Committee heard her nomination on November 13, 2014; confirmed by the Senate on December 16, 2014, by voice vote; judicial commission issued December 19, 2014. - Private practice, Salem, VA, 2004-2014 - Assistant city attorney, Roanoke, VA, 2000-2003 - Private practice, Roanoke, VA, 1986-2000 - Date of birth: 1960-01-01 - handling trial and appellate matters in federal and state courts. - Of 126 appellate decisions reviewed, 101 were affirmed. - Official site: U.S. District Court – Western District of Virginia. - Birth place: Omaha, NE ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394741) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394741) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394741) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/879/elizabeth-kay-dillon/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/879/elizabeth-kay-dillon/) - [Wikidata: Elizabeth K. Dillon](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18169248) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/elizabeth-kay-dillon", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/elizabeth-kay-dillon", "name": "Elizabeth Kay Dillon | KnowJudges", "description": "Elizabeth Kay Dillon, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.